Which is the best u.k.motor/transport museum/National Motor museum Beaulieu

clogher71

Hi All

Looking for experiences of which is the best museum in the u.k or even the rest of the world.

Anyone visit the National Motor Museum? worth a trip?

I have been to Coventry, a little disappointed, barely able to spend two hours.

Was at one 11 years ago near Grasse in the south of France, the name escapes me, any one else know it? It was excellent, visited it twice while on holidays.

The las vegas one is good too.

Fishtits

You could start closer to home with the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Belfast. Its a weekend in itself.

Prince Ranier (Sp?) has a museum in Monaco that's well worth a visit, lots of high brow stuff there.

The Irish Transport Museum in Howth is also a facinating day out.

Then you've got Kilgarven in Cork... an interesting collection.

As with any museum, the time you spend is directly proportional to what you get out of it.

Cheers,

clogher71

I have been to most(if not them all)on this island. My wife and I are thinking of heading to the U.k for a couple of days and I would base the trip around a visit to a museum(I have a significant Birthday coming up so I have big imput into where we go!)....

This got me thinking which is the biggest/best in the U.K./world....
Maybe a list for people heading abroad so they can take them in on their trip??.

I would spend more time in the Ulster Folk&transport than Coventry, but am glad I saw Coventry, but I did not make a special trip, I was in the area.

bijapos

From a few I've been to recently I can recommend

Manoir de l'Automobile in Loheac near Rennes in France, handy especially for those going via Roscoff or Cherbourg. You need a whole day for the museum, great mix of vintage, classic, sports and race cars and lots of memorabilia too. I put some pics up here before. The owner is such a car fanatic he not only has the museum, but built a race track beside it and manufactured his own cars to boot.

Schlumpf Collection, Mulhouse. Went there a few years ago, one of the best in the world.

In Germany there is Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Porsche is nearby, the BMW museum in Munich and Volkswagens Autostadt Museum, some pics from VW are on this page here.

Not a museum as such but Meilenwek in Berlin is an ex Tram depot that is now home to classic car storage, shops, restorers, workshops and classic car sales, you can just walk in the door and look around, I passed there in May and took some pics. There is also a Meilenwerk in Stuttgart and Dusseldorf.

There are a lot of smaller car museums and exhibitions around europe, some have only 20 cars but are always well worth a look. If you are going somewhere, a few minutes on google will inevitably unearth something near where you are going.

corktina

Gaydon on the M40 might be worth a look. Owned by Ford but infested with a lot of BL stuff (Ford inherited it from Jaguar or Land Rover I think)

Beaulieu a good day out as is th HAynes Museum in Somerset.

si_guru

corktina wrote: »

Gaydon on the M40 might be worth a look. Owned by Ford but infested with a lot of BL stuff (Ford inherited it from Jaguar or Land Rover I think)

Beaulieu a good day out as is th HAynes Museum in Somerset.

Agreed. Gaydon is good espec if you like BL, Land Rover - they have a cinema too showing old car related ads and news real from 50s thru' 70s. There is also a Land Rover off road ride for a few quid.

macplaxton

corktina wrote: »

but infested with a lot of BL stuff

Infested? You cheeky so-and-so!:p Up the BL tin!

corktina

i thought noone noticed...:D

si_guru

There used to be a great place in Birmingham called the Patrick Collection... all was sold off after the collapse of the Patrick Motor Group.. I think all the BL stuff went to Gaydon. I think Gaydon has more cars than it can show.. some are rotated or come out for special events.

There is also a MicroCar museum Lincolnshire way somewhere. ..and of course the Motorcycle Museum next to BHX.

alastair

The new Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow might be worth considering too.

http://addiator.blogspot.com/2011/06/glasgows-new-riverside-museum.html

clogher71

Thanks guys. National Motor Museum&haynes Museum dont seem to be too far apart, could be both visited on the one trip....

mgbgt1978

Visited both Haynes and Beaulieu within the last 2 years.
Haynes certainly have more cars, but they are displayed in big blocks (if you know what i mean).
Beaulieu is more of an "experience" with the cars displayed with more thought gone into the settings. Plus you have the House and gardens as well as the Top Gear stuff, oh and the monorail.
Also Beaulieu is in a far more "english" setting, in the New Forest.
Also, if you're in the area take a 20 minute detour to have a quick look at Stonehenge....you don't have to pay , just park in the track beside it and walk along the road for 3 minutes. hold your camera just above the fence and you are only 20 yards further away than the people who paid to see the same thing.
You could easily visit both museums on the same trip (one day each).

clogher71

Thanks mgbgt for those tips...

Silvera

Museums I have visited.....

- National Transport Museum, Beaulieu, New Forest, UK
- Haynes Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset
Both are excellent museums and well worth a visit!
(They are c.1.5hrs drive apart. I would also highly recommend a visit to the 'Fleet Air Arm Museum' which is very close to the Haynes museum...even if you have little interest in aviation matters its worth a visit!)

- Kilgarvan Motor Museum, Kilgarvan, Kerry.
Nice collection of (mostly) Irish reg cars and memorabilia. The owner and his family are lovely people who are very welcoming.

- Malta Classic Car Collection
I visited this museum in June and it is superb...almost more like a new car showroom than a museum!
(even my gf was amazed with it...her first visit to any motor museum). It's c. 1hrs drive from Valetta, Malta.

- Riverside Museum, Glasgow
I visited this new museum a few weeks ago and, while it is impressive due to its large scale, I didnt 'warm' to it somehow.....its was a bit 'impersonal' or something.

- National Transport Museum, Howth
I visited this museum many years ago. Its a fine collection of Irish vehicles (msotly buses, lorries and military vehicles). The dedicated staff are to be commended for saving so many Irish vehicles over the years. They deserve a larger dedicated museum building to display their impressive collection. National Lottery-funded perhaps??

robodonkey

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Beaulieu is more of an "experience" with the cars displayed with more thought gone into the settings. Plus you have the House and gardens as well as the Top Gear stuff, oh and the monorail.
Also Beaulieu is in a far more "english" setting, in the New Forest.

Had a great day out in Beaulieu a couple of years back. Lovely setting. Well worth a visit!